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Visualization of Policies of Cultural Memory Construction press, texts and images that additionally contributed to the dissemination and confirmation among the local population of legends and etymological interpretations of local toponyms. As a result of the archaeological researches, gradually the locality of Kufalnitsa became known as Samuilova krepost. In this period were composed “folklore” songs praising King Samuel and events related to the Battle of Kleidion. ‘The songs contributed even more to the construction of cultural memory among the population of the region of Petrich. According to many of our respondents, these are authentic folk songs that the people in the region always used to sing. Meanwhile, artistic interest in King Samuel was greatly stimulated by the trilogy Samuel (1957-1960) written by one of the most popular Bulgarian writers, Dimitar Talev. The painter Boris Angelushev created a series of illustrations for the books (Fig. 1). A number of Bulgarian painters began once again to exploit the theme: in 1963 Grigor Spiridonov painted 1014 (Samuel and the Blind) (Fig. 4); in 1973 Dimitar Kirov painted Requiem for Samuels Warriors (Fig. 5); in 1975 Svetlin Rusev painted King Samuels Warriors (Fig. 6); in 1977 the sculptor Lyubomir Dalchev created the statuary King Samuel’ Soldiers (Fig. 7), now residing in Sofia, in a small garden near the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, (Moutafov 2014: 18-20). Obviously, during that period the emphasis of the artists was laid on the dramatic Battle of Kleidion and the blinding of the Bulgarian soldiers at the order of Emperor Basil H, “the Bulgar-Slayer”. The theme of “Bulgar-slaying” and the self-victimization reflected the idea of Greece, successor of former Byzantium, as a symbol of the national and ideological enemy of socialist Bulgaria and the socialist world as a whole. The example of King Samuel represents the development of a strategy for evoking a sense of patriotism and national pride by creating a martyrs image of the Bulgarian people. On the one hand, martyrdom as a form of suffering and death on account of adherence to a certain cause suggests heroism, bravery, and strong mind in the face of life’s hardships and on the other hand, puts a halo of sanctity around the subject of martyrdom as well as around its cause. Thus, although the Bulgarian people have been through a lot of suffering, they have managed to survive in time and history and to protect their “sacred” cause, the Bulgarian state and identity. Reflecting the idea of the enemy Greece is the case of the monument of King Samuel in Kresna (Fig. 8). It was created in 1983 by Georgi Tanev, a man from Petrich, who was assigned there to serve his time as a soldier. The monument was placed in front of the military base. It was ordered by a major and two generals who had the idea to name the regiment after King Samuel and to turn the monument into its visual symbol. Having in mind that this was a military base, moreover one * Undoubtedly, the most popular story of the martyrdom of the Bulgarian people is the one of the time of the Ottoman period. The constructed cultural memory about it sees it as a period of yoke and tyranny, of self-sacrifice in defence of the Orthodox Christian faith, of heroic and dramatic attempts at gaining freedom. ° Kresna is a small town in southwest Bulgaria, situated some 60 kilometres from the town of Petrich. 577
